GAZA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli fighter jets on Thursday carried out a series of airstrikes on facilities belonging to militant groups in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets fired from the coastal enclave, eyewitnesses said.
Israeli army drones and fighter jets were heard buzzing in the air, and several explosions were heard in the central Gaza Strip, the witnesses told Xinhua, adding that more than 14 missiles were fired at a military post that belongs to Gaza militant groups.
Palestinian medical sources said that no injuries were reported during the strikes that mainly targeted posts and facilities that belong to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The airstrikes were in response to the earlier firing of two rockets at southern Israel, said an Israeli army spokesman. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Palestinian factional sources said that the rocket attacks were in response to the harsh treatment of Palestinian women imprisoned in Israeli jails.
During Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, militants in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave also fired at least eight rockets at southern Israeli communities close to the borders with the Gaza Strip, and anti-aircraft missiles were fired at Israeli fighter jets by Hamas militants, sources close to Hamas security said.
Since early January, tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have flared, with around 35 Palestinians killed and dozens injured by Israeli soldiers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. ■
